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Help Wanted

When I arrived in Miami on the Sunday before the Democratic convention in 1972, I had yet to select a running mate. I had already asked Ed Muskie, the senator from Maine, and Hubert Humphrey, the 1968 nominee and my longtime friend, if they would be on the ticket with me. Each had said no.

So at the convention, I met with my staff in my hotel room on Thursday, the day after I was nominated. We had until 4 p.m. to find a vice-presidential nominee.

My first pick that morning was Senator Ted Kennedy, whom I had called the night before. He declined, and instead suggested that I pick Senator Tom Eagleton of Missouri, who was openly campaigning for the post. I rejected the advice because I didn’t know Eagleton very well.

My next choice was Sargent Shriver, the first director of the Peace Corps and Senator Kennedy’s brother-in-law, but I could not reach him because he was in the Soviet Union. So I called Walter Mondale, another Senate colleague. Like Senator Kennedy, he said no and recommended Eagleton. I still felt unsure.

Then I turned to Abe Ribicoff, a senator from Connecticut and another longtime friend. He said it would be an honor to be the first Jew on the national ticket of either party, but he was about to marry. “I just can’t cancel a honeymoon and take on a national campaign,” he told me.

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Almost immediately, Ken Galbraith — the Harvard economist, one of the leaders of the Massachusetts delegation and a close friend — called to say that I couldn’t possibly pick Kevin White because he had backed Muskie during the Massachusetts primary. “If you pick him our delegation will walk out of the convention,” Ken said. I told the mayor we could not go forward with him.

Frank Mankiewicz, my political director, said with a wry smile: “Walter Cronkite was just named the most admired man in America. How about him?” We let this intriguing possibility pass as too unrealistic. I later learned from Walter that he would have accepted. I wish we had chosen him.

Instead I called Gaylord Nelson, a senator from Wisconsin and my closest friend in the Senate, and pleaded with him to bail me out. “I’m afraid you might win and then I’d be stuck with that damn job as vice president,” he said. “No, thanks.” He recommended Eagleton.

At 3:45 p.m., I called Senator Eagleton. He accepted, and then told Frank Mankiewicz there was nothing in his background that would be considered troublesome. History would render a different judgment.

— GEORGE McGOVERN, a former senator from South Dakota and the 1972 Democratic presidential nominee

A version of this op-ed appears in print on , on Page A21 of the New York edition with the headline: Help Wanted. Today's Paper|Subscribe